How to Personalize Guest Stays

March 8, 2019

There’s nothing that makes a stay feel less personalized than poor attempts at personalization. There is a huge disconnect between what too many hotel managers believe personalization is all about and the reality of what it feels like when one experiences it.

Here’s some guidance for hoteliers who are willing to make the effort to do it right:

A personalized text from the same front-desk colleague who checked you in saying “Greetings Mr. or Mrs, this is John from the front desk, just checking to make sure your stay is off to a good start…”;

a front-desk colleague who proactively volunteers relevant information upon arrival. “By the way Mr. or Mrs., since you are leaving at 5 a.m.—before breakfast opens—we do sell to-go snacks in our lobby marketplace.”

an authentic statement that welcomes you back specifically;

when someone sincerely asks “How was your trip in today?” and listens attentively when you share your travel dramas;

a personalized room assignment, such as returning to the same room from a previous visit;

the feeling you get when walking down a long hallway and hotelier looks me in the eye, smiles and says “Good morning!”

a sincere compliment such as “Nice tie you have on today, sir”;

personalized recommendations of authentic local restaurants and attractions;

when you ask to reconfirm travel times or for driving directions and someone suggests a shortcut or better routing than Google Maps;

an easy-to-find local phone number when you really need to call the front desk for a quick question;

pronouncing a difficult-to-say last name (when guests call to book or reconfirm, smart hoteliers enter the phonetic pronunciations into “guest comments” field);

when someone returns a call about a lost-and-found item and says “Yes, we found it” or “Regretfully we did not locate it” to give a sense of closure; and

offering to store personal items that are hard to travel with and costly to check for guests who return frequently multiple times a month.